Learning Cursive!

The students are very excited because we're learning cursive.  We started today with the letter Aa.  They promised me that they would only practice the letters we're learning in class at home.  When we learn all the letters, students may begin writing their names in cursive.  Some students asked for extra practice pages for at home.  

Money, Money, Money

We're learning to count money.  The students are good at counting dimes, nickels, and pennies.  Adding in the quarters is a little tricky for some.  You can help at home by practicing counting groups of coins.

Celebrating Cultures Around the World

The students have enjoyed learning about the different and cultures and traditions all around the world.  Today we finished up by learning a bit about the traditions in Mexico.  The students enjoyed making poinsettias.  

Writing Celebration!

On Monday, we celebrated our writing.  The students worked hard as they thought about what they're an expert at and then wrote an Informational book on the topic.  They worked hard their Informational texts for about 2 weeks.  They made a table of contents and tried to add scientific information to their writing.  As you look at their work, you'll notice that they added key words at the top of each page as they planned their writing.  They were supposed to add a lot of information on the topic and show they they're experts.  We had time today to share our their writing with other second graders in Mrs. Burns' class.

Swedan and Ethiopia

On Friday, the students learned about the holiday traditions in Sweden.  The students learned that Christmas in Sweden begins on Dec.13th, St. Lucia's Day.  We made a crown with leaves and candles.  We learned about other Swedish traditions too.  Today we learned about Ethiopia.  They celebrate Christmas, which they call Ganna, on January 7th.  On January 9th Timkat begins and as part of the celebration, they walk in a parade and play musical instruments.  We made little drums.  The students were surpised to learn that presents are not given or received.  They eat and play games to celebrate.  One last stop tomorrow as we learn about some of the holiday traditions in Mexico.

Sharing Traditions From Other Cultures

The students learned that families share their cultures by sharing their traditions with others.   The students shared some of their family traditions. Ian brought a flag from the Dominican Republic and shared it with our class Today we learned about how they celebrate Christmas in China.  We listened to We Wish You a Merry Christmas in Chinese. We made paper lanterns too.  

Buddy Time - Put First Things First

We had a buddy get-together yesterday and discussed Habit #3 - Put First Things First.  The students worked on setting priorities, making schedules and following a plan.  Hopefully your child shared with you his/her ideas of "Putting First Things First".  We talked about working first and then having time to play.  As you look at the pictures, remember it was Crazy Hair day!  

Learning about German Traditions

The students enjoyed learning more about German traditions.  Decorating Christmas trees is a tradition  that began in Germany and many of us do that today.  We made little Christmas tree puppet and sang "Oh Christmas Tree".

Cultures and Traditions

In our next Social Studies unit, the students will be learning about "Ways of Living".  We'll be learning about culture and see examples of ways that American culture is shaped by the cultures of immigrants who have come to the United States.  We'll be learning how people in the United States share their cultures through stories and the arts.  During the next few days, we'll be looking at different cultures and traditions as they celebrate winter holidays.  Today, we learned about some of the traditions in England.  The students were excited to make Christmas Crackers to share with their family.

Math Review

We've been reviewing adding and subtracting 2-digit numbers today.  The students will have a test on Chapter 11 tomorrow.

Who Will Guide Santa's Sleigh??

The students filled out an application to join Santa's team.  Check out a few of our reindeer photos!

Elfie has Arrived

Well our elf Elfie arrived today and I guess he's a little later than most of the other elves.  He's watching our everyone here at school!

Writing Like a Scientist

The students have been working hard as they learn to write like a scientist.  Students have learned that scientists write a question and a hypothesis.  The students made a catapult and wrote their question:  Using the catapult we made, which will go farther the ping-pong ball or the cotton ball?  The students then wrote their hypothesis and were ready to test with multiple trials. The students LOVED trying out the catapults and recording their results.  Then they looked at their results and wrote their conclusions.
Check out our Catapult Video.

Xtra Math Success

I'm so proud of Chloe for completing addition on Xtramath.org! Now she's onto subtraction!  

Science Review - Test on Wednesday

We reviewed Chapter 5 yesterday in class and the science books were sent home so your child could review at home.  We'll review again in class today and the test will be on Wednesday, Dec. 4th.  Many of the concepts are a review from our recent Social Studies unit.